Rauceby
- ALLEN, F. W. & ALLEN, E. A. - "Stability and Change: some aspects of north and south Rauceby in the Nineteen Century", Dept. of Adult Education, Univ. of Nottingham, 1969. ISBN none.
- Sue TORDOFF got her copy of the above book via the Internet. Copies may be available at Wood Lodge in South Rauceby. Price unknown.
- The parish was in the Leadenham sub-district of the Sleaford Registration District.
- Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1841 |
H.O. 107 / 621 |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2344 |
| 1871 |
R.G. 10 / 3351 |
| 1881 |
R.G. 11 / 3224 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2580 |
- North Rauceby's parish church, Saint Peter, is an ancient structure, restored in 1853, and build of local Ancaster stone. The spire is thought to be of late 12th or early 13th century origin.
- The church chancel was erected in the 16th century.
- The church seats 310.
- South Rauceby had its own parish church, Saint James, but it was pulled down before 1640 and all traces of it had disappeared by 1871.
- A photograph of St. Peter's resides at the Wendy PARKINSON English Church Photographs site.
- Michael PATTERSON has a photograph of St. Peter's Church on Geo-graph, taken in February, 2006.
- J. HANNAH-BRIGGS has a photograph of the church interior on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2012.
- Here is a photo of the Church of St. Peter taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):
- Parish register entries date from 1688. The I.G.I. contains entries from 1561 - 1837.
- The Lincolnshire FHS has a Loan Library service which has the parish registers on microfiche for Baptisms from 1688 to 1812 and Marriages from 1688 to 1813.
- We have a partial parish register extract in text form for your use. Your additions and corrections are welcome.
- The LFHS has published several marriage indexes for the Loveden Deanery to make your search easier. In the early 1900's the parish was briefly in the North Lafford deanery.
- South Rauceby had a small Primitive Methodist chapel. A Wesleyan chapel was built in the town in 1881 to seat 200. For information and assistance in researching these chapels, see our non-conformist religions page.
- Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
- The parish was in the Leadenham sub-district of the Sleaford Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
Rauceby is a single village and ecclesiastical parish which is comprised of two civil parishes, North Rauceby and South Rauceby. You may find records under all three entities.
North Rauceby parish, located about 4 miles west of Sleaford and 11 miles north-east of Grantham, covers about 3,300 acres and is bordered on the north by Cranwell parish and Byards Leap parish, to the east by Leasingham parish and to the west by Normanton parish.
South Rauceby parish, about 3.5 miles west of Sleaford, covers about 2,600 acres and is bounded on the south by Wilsford parish, to the east by Quarrington parish and to the west by Ancaster parish. Bulley Wells, midway between South Rauceby and Sleaford, was famous for several copious limestone springs which feed into the River Slea.
The village of Rauceby is seated on one of the highest parts of Lincolnshire, to the west of Sleaford. If you are planning a visit:
- Take the A17 trunk road west out of Sleaford and turn south after about four miles. Or, one can take the A153 trunk road southwest out of Sleaford and turn north after about three miles to Rauceby.
- Baaa! Richard CROFT suggests that you watch for sheep entering South Rauceby. He has a photograph of the Village sign on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2008.
- The Sleaford Golf Club is on Willougby Road in South Rauceby. Tel: 01529 488273. For a bit of nostalgia, get the Film Archive 1924, 8 minute promotional film for the golf course. Many club members and spectators are on the film.
- Visit our touring page for more sources.
- Excavations at South Rauceby reveal settlements dating back about 4,000 years.
- North and South Rauceby were united as one ecclesiastical parish some time prior to 1836.
- South Rauceby once had a beacon on a local hillock which, when lighted in times of danger, could be seen as far away as Swineshead (near Boston) and Donington (near Spalding).
- South Rauceby had a station (Rauceby Station) on the Grantham and Sleaford Branch of the Great Northern Railway.
- This region of Lincolnshire has numerous sightings of the "Alien Big Cat," sometimes described like a puma or leopard. The events are common enough that the newspapers refer to them as the "Lindsey Leopards". Get an update from The BBC.
- Before 1968, a considerable part of Rauceby Warren in South Rauceby, now a Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve, was used by the public to get rid of their garden rubbish. This is probably the reason why Good King Henry still grows in the area. In North Rauceby the Trust maintains two Protected Roadside Verges.
- The University of Kent at Canterbury, in the C. P. Davies Collection of Mill Memorabilia, has two postcards of South Rauceby.
- In 1871, North Rauceby belonged to A. WILLSON and a few small freeholders.
- In 1871, most of South Rauceby belonged to M. WILLSON and the trustees of Lady THOROLD. There were several small freeholders as well.
- In 1913, most of North Rauceby belonged to the Marquess of Bristol. There were several small freeholders.
- In 1913, most of South Rauceby belonged to the Reverend Vere Francis WILLSON and the Marquess of Bristol. There were several small freeholders.
- South Rauceby Hall was erected in 1841-3 by A. WILLSON, built in the Elizabethan Style.
- Richard CROFT has a photograph of Rauceby Hall on Geo-graph, taken in November, 2010.
- On Sunday afternoons, Rauceby Hall and Village are open to the public for tours and garden walks, compliments of the Civic Trust.
- The national grid reference is TF 0246.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer #272 map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- The Kesteven County Asylum is often associated with Rauceby. It was, in fact, erected in Quarrington parish, near the border with Rauceby. Please see our Poor Law Asylum page for more information.
- The War Memorial cross was erected in 1918 in memory of the men of the parish who fell in World War I.
- Richard CROFT has a photograph of the War Memorial on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2006.
- The War Memorial is a Grade II listed structure by British Heritage.
- St. Peter's Lychgate, built in 1912, is a memorial to Maj.-Gen. Mildmay W. WILLSON, K.C.B., who died in 1912. He was born in Rauceby in July, 1847 and who served in South Africa during the Boer War.
- The RAF acquired Rauceby Hospital (above) in 1940 to supplement RAF Hospital Nocton Hall. The existing inmates were dispersed to other institutions. It was formally known as "No. 4 RAF Hospital Rauceby."
The are two Commonwealth War Graves in St. Peter's churchyard:
- L. E. CLARK, clerk, Women's Royal Naval Service, died 24 Nov 1918.
- Samuel GODSON, srgt., RAF Vol Rsv., age 32, died 29 Aug 1943.
- Anciently known as Rosbi, and listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as Roscebi, the name derives from the Old Scandinavian for Rauthr+by, or "village of a man called Rauthr." Some ancient sources give the town name as Rauceby Altera due to its high location.
[A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991]
- Locals pronounce the name as "Ross-bi", with the final syllable sounding like "bye".
- John Bland tells us (2004) that the locals pronounce the name as "Raws-bee".
- White's 1872 Directory lists the following surnames in North Rauceby: BENNETT, CLARRICOATS, CLOW, CODLING, HARRIS, HARVEY, MEDLEY, NEWTON, PERKINS, PINDER, ROWLEY, SUMMER, THORONTON, THURLBY, TOMLINSON and WEBB.
- That Directory has the following surnames in South Rauceby: ANDREWS, BARBER, CLAY, GIBSON, LANCASTER, LYELL, MAPLETOFT, ROWLEY, SILLS, SCARBOROUGH, TETTHER, WILLSON and WINTER.
- Kelley's 1913 Directory lists the following surnames in North Rauceby: BANKS, CLARRICOASTS, DREW, HARDWICK, HOLMES, MOORE, PERKINS, SELLARS, TOMLINSON, WARD and WEBSTER.
- That Directory has the following surnames in South Rauceby: ALLEN, BAILY, BLAND, BOWSER, CAMPAIN, COULING, CROFTS, DAWSON, GELSTHORPE, HART, HILLIAM, HOPE, HUGH, NEWTON, PIDCOCK, ROLLINGS, SLEIGHT, WILLSON, WINTER and WRIGHT.
- Sue Vickers TORDOFF reports that her family of Robert VICKERS was in South Rauceby in the late 1800s. His father, William VICKERS, was born in North Rauceby around 1833. You can contact her via e-mail at: Sue Vickers TORDOFF.
Here's a newspaper clipping mentioning the village. Unfortunately, the newspaper's name is lost, but the date is 27 Oct. 1917. Right-hand columns are incomplete but I think it's possible to work out most of the context. I've used * to indicate gaps of lengths I could only guess at.: Diane Maltby
RAUCEB*
LOCAL HOSPITAL WO* the names of ladies, broug* of the Secretary of Stat* valuable services rendered * other Hospitals, are those * Eps, [Elps?] superintendent, Au* Rauceby: and Mrs. R. W. * ant of the same Hospital.
THE BELVOIR HOUN* ber of cubs have been * Rauceby Coverts have * to the season's bag. A s* resulted in a brace and a * to the slain. One of the* Wilsford Osier Beds, and *
[photocopied page ends]
- Bastardy cases would be heard in the Sleaford petty session hearings.
- Since the mid 1600's, the parish of North Rauceby was entitled to send two poor men to Carre's Hospital in Sleaford.
- The poor of North Rauceby had a yearly rent-charge of £5 from out of the Marquis of Bristol's estate, left by Robert CARRE of Sleaford in 1593.
- The poor of North Rauceby had an annual gift of £5 from Lady Margaret THOROLD's charity, established in 1718.
- The poor of South Rauceby had an annual gift of £10 from Lady THOROLD's charity.
- After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became part of the Sleaford Poor Law Union.
| Year |
North Rauceby |
South Rauceby |
| 1801 |
150 |
137 |
| 1841 |
271 |
351 |
| 1871 |
279 |
412 |
| 1881 |
270 |
388 |
| 1891 |
269 |
390 |
| 1901 |
252 |
392 |
| 1911 |
251 |
432 |
| 1921 |
272 |
376 |
- The village of North Rauceby was entitled to send children to Carre's Free School in Sleaford.
- A school for North and South Rauceby was built in North Rauceby in 1842 at the cost of the Marquis of Bristol, Mr. A. WILLSON and the Reverend Edward TROLLOPE. It could hold up to 116 children. The school is on Tom Lane, North Rauceby, NG34 8QW. The school has early log books going back to 1904.
- The children of South Rauceby attended school in North Rauceby.
- For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
Last updated on 6-March-2015
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